Describe the brief/objective of the direct campaign.
Target shoppers at stores and diners at restaurants during the busiest shopping day of the year in the U.S. (day after Thanksgiving and a month before Christmas) to make a donation to Outreach International. Outreach is a charity that helps the poorest in the Third World overcome poverty. Outreach wanted to find inexpensive ways to reach new donors.

Explain why the creative execution was relevant to the product or service.
We wanted each insert to be surprising in its placement and message. "Shopping Trip" and "No Limits" targeted shoppers who had just filled their bags full of gifts for their loved ones. "Still Hungry" for example was used for diners who had ordered out or needed a leftover bag. Each message provided a simple reminder that the shopping or dining wasn't over yet.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective with reference to the projected response rates and desired outcome.
As shoppers were opening their wallets during the holidays, our shopping bag inserts reminded them to open their hearts. Shoppers could go online to purchase the bare basics such as goats, rakes and malaria shots for those in need. Outreach used its own volunteers to place the inserts inside existing bags from various establishments to keep this a bare-bones investment. Retail workers were encouraged to tell shoppers they placed something special at the bottom of the bag.

Describe the results in as much detail as possible with particular reference to the RESPONSE of the target audience including deliverability statistics, response rates, click throughs, sales cost per response, relationships built and overall return on investment.
This effort was remarkably successful on two levels. For one, it developed a critical new network of retail and restaurant establishments that Outreach could use for future fund-raising efforts. Next, nearly one third (32%) of funds raised came from online donors at Outreachshop.org. We demonstrated it was possible to drive donors online with an impactful message at the right time, and in the right place.